Genealogy

Genealogy Classes

Sam Maner, the genealogist who helped President George H.W. Bush trace his roots back to Blount County, teaches several different genealogy classes here at library. Mr. Maner has over 25 years of experience in genealogy, including working for ancestry.com, serving as historian for Sevier County and registrar for Sons of the Revolution, authoring several publications, and teaching at Pellissippi State. In addition to former President Bush, he has worked with Senator Lamar Alexander and Congressman John Duncan in discovering their ancestral heritage. Mr. Maner teaches a two-hour introductory class for beginners on finding genealogy information on the internet. He also teaches intermediate and advanced genealogy workshops. Call the library for more information.

Tellico Village Heritage Project

In 1967 the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) began purchasing land along the Little Tennessee River and lower Tellico River to create a reservoir that would be called Tellico Lake. This controversial project forced longtime residents from their land. The water of the lake would cover acres of prime river farmland, and cover many historic Native American sites including Chota and Tanasi.

In the 1980s, TVA sold property along the new Tellico Lake to developers, one being Cooper Communities which established an unincorporated community of Tellico Village in 1986.

The new residents were eager to maintain the stories of the previous area residents so the Tellico Village Heritage Project began. Interviews were taken, old pictures acquired, and maps collected.

The Tellico Village Heritage Project records including maps, pictures and interviews are available at the library in the local history section. The library also has an electronic, comprehensive history of the Heritage project and history of Tellico Village. This is available on one of the computers in the public computer lab. Any documents and photos may be printed out from this resource.

Watch the Video of the Tellico Village Heritage Project. Video is slow to download.

Genealogy Resources in Loudon Library

The Loudon Public Library genealogy archive room contains books, documents, and microfilmed records pertaining to Loudon and surrounding counties. The collection includes funeral homes, cemetery and census records, local history books, city directories, family histories and other historical resources. This library is located at 210 River Road in Loudon and can be reached at 865-458-3161.

Genealogy Links

These are some favorite genealogy research sites. Most are free. Some have limited records that are free, but subscriptions are necessary to get access to full records.